- Athletic Bilbao played with 10 men for most of the game
- Raul Garcia got two yellow cards in a span of 5 minutes
- Benzema brace secures the win for Real Madrid
The game against Athletic Bilbao started good for Real Madrid as Raul Garcia saw a red card in the 14th minute. The midfielder was ejected after receiving two yellow cards in a span of 5 minutes, both for violent fouls on Toni Kroos.
Playing against 10 men, Real Madrid dominated the game, but Bilbao were focused and managed to keep a clean sheet until the last minute of the first half. Vinicius dribbled inside the area, creating a ton of space around him and found Toni Kroos outside the box. The German midfielder scored one of his vintage goals from outside to give Real Madrid the 1:0 lead and a lot of comfort before half-time.
Bilbao responded strong in the second half and after poor defending by both Varane and Ramos, Capa managed to score the equalizer on his second shot. The two central defenders were not focused and attentive enough to prevent neither the first nor the rebound shot that ended up in the goal.
After the equalizer Real Madrid started pushing forward. The goal eventually came in the 74th minute when Benzema scored a header from a Dani Carvajal cross.
Down a goal and with one player less, Bilbao attempted bravely to score again but this left a lot of space in the backline. Luka Modric and Karim Benzema exploited this perfectly in the 92nd minute to give Real Madrid the third goal of the game.
This was Real Madrid’s fourth win in a row, during a month that was considered to be extremely hard. Wins against Sevilla, Gladbach, Atletico and now Bilbao have given Real Madrid a lot of confidence and a great standing in both La Liga and Champions League, where they advanced to the Round of 16 as group leaders.
Real Madrid play their next match on Sunday against Eibar.
